His cap-corner perched in the sky may be found,
And his head in humility still on the ground.
(The exalted are good who humility show;
If a beggar be humble his Nature is so.
A subject may fall and it matter not much;
But a tyrant cast down is a man in God's clutch.)
The renown of his goodness remains not concealed;
Liberality's fame to the world is revealed.
Like him, one so wise and so happy in soul,
The world does not shelter, from pole unto pole.
In his days, one afflicted, no eye can behold;
Of oppression from one cruel hand, who has told?
None has seen such arrangement, such usage and rite;
Faridun,1 with his pomp, did not see such a sight.
In the eyes of the Lord his position is strong,
For the hands of the weak from his rank become long.
On a world such abundance of favour he shows,
That a Zal2 from a Rustam 3 no anxiousness knows.
Some men, on account of the harshness of Fate,
Are ever distressed that the sky should rotate.
Oh, friend of the city! so just is your reign,
That none against Fortune has cause to complain.
In your age I see people enjoying repose;
After you, what may happen them God only knows!
It is due to your fortunate planet's bright rays,
That the writings of Sádi appear in your days.
While the sun and the moon in the sky shall remain,
So long shall this record your merits contain.
If monarchs a good reputation have earned,
The manner they have from their ancestors learned.
1 Faridun, a celebrated king of Persia who reigned in the eighth century B.C.
3 Rustam, the Persian Hercules.
With qualities regal, so gifted's your mind,
That the monarchs of yore you have left far behind.
Alexander, with wall made of stone and of brass,
Brought Gog in the world to a difficult pass.
Your barrier to Gog's unbelief is of gold;
Not of brass, like the great Alexander's, of old.
If a poet, enjoying this justice and peace,
Does not speak in your praise, may his tongue ever cease!
What a sea of bestowing and lavishing mine!
For the poor are relieved by your presence benign.
Past counting, I see the king's merits remain ;
And their record's too large for this limited plain.
Were Sádi to enter the whole of them in,
A new volume he, doubtless, would have to begin.
I fail in my thanks for such generous care;
It is better to stretch, then, my hands out in pray'r:
May the Earth and the Sky all your wishes befriend!
May the Maker of Earth to you safety extend!
By your high-rising star may the world be illumed!
And the low-falling star of your foe be consumed!
By grief from changed times may you never be pressed!
May the dust of sad care on your heart never rest!
(For if grief in the heart of a monarch should dwell,
The hearts of a world suffer anguish as well).
May your spirit be tranquil and prosp'rous your realm;
And never may ruin your state overwhelm !
Like the Faith, may your body for ever be sound!
And your foes' hearts, as weak as their counsels be found!
May your spirit be glad by the aid of the Lord!
On your heart, Faith, and State be prosperity poured!
May the mercy of God give repose to your mind!
(If more I should say, 'twould be fable and wind.)
From the Maker sublime, this for you should suffice,
That His grace makes your goodness continue to rise.
Sád-Zangi1 departed this life without care,
For he named such a famed one as you, as his heir.
Such a branch is not strange from so holy a root;
For his soul is in Heav'n and his corpse underfoot.
Oh God! on the tomb of that famous one, deign
By Thy favour, a shower of mercy to rain!
If remembrance and tales of Sád-Zangi descend,
May Heav'n be, for ever, Sád-Bū-Băkăr's friend!
Praise of the Prince of Islam, Sád-Bin-Abu-BǎkarBin-Sád.2
Oh promising youth with a luminous heart!
Young in fortune, but old when you counsels impart.
In knowledge profound; spirit reaching the skies;
Intrepid in arm, and in intellect wise.
Well done! the good luck of the mother of Time,
Since she nursed in her bosom a son so sublime.
With his generous hand the sea's sheen he effaced,
And, in highness, the Pleiades' mansion displaced.
How well for the monarchs, exalted in place,
That the eye of their fortune is fixed on your face!
You see that the shell which with pearls is replete,
With one Royal pearl can't in value compete.
You are that priceless pearl in its hidden retreat,
And an ornament bright to the Empire's fair seat.
Take care of him, Lord, with Thine own guarding eye!
And permit not the Evil Eye's stroke to come nigh!
Oh God! through the world make him famous appear!
By the grace of devotion, oh render him dear!
1 Sád-Zangi, father of Sád-Bu-Băkår.
2 Sád-Bin-Abū-Băkăr, son of Sád-Bu-Bǎkår.
In justice and grace keep him strong by Thy will!
In this world and the next all his wishes fulfil!
May he never be vexed by a rancorous foe,
And harm from the changes of Earth never know!
Fruit like you the rich Paradise tree has sustained;
The son seeks a name that the father has gained.
Consider them strange to that household, so fair,
Who to say a bad word of this household should dare !
Well done! faith and knowledge, and justice and right;
Well done! realm and fortune, ne'er pass from our sight!
ON JUSTICE, WISDOM, AND GOVERNMENT.
THE extent of God's mercies no mortal can guess;
The meed of His praises what tongue can express?
Oh God! cause this king who befriends the distressed,
And under whose shadow the people have rest,
On the heads of the subjects for long to survive!
By the grace of devotion his soul keep alive!
Keep the tree of his hope bearing fruit choice to sight!
Keep his head fresh! his face, in compassion, keep bright!
In the path of pretence walk not, Sádi, like some;
If you harbour sincerity, bring you, and come!
You are pious, and walking the King's road appear;
You speak truth, and to truths of the King you give ear.
What loss though the footstool of Heav'n1 you don't put
As a rest under K'izil Arslan's2 royal foot!
Do not say, "Grandeur's foot on the highest Heav'n place!"
But say, "On the dust put sincerity's face!"
In obedience, your face on the threshold place low !
For this is the highway all good people go.
If you are a slave, place your head at this gate!
And take from your temples the head-dress of state.
1 The footstool of Heaven as a rest for his foot, while he kisses the stirrup as a token of submission.
2 K'izil Arslan, a king of Persia (red lion).
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